Day 28-30!

CHALLENGE COMPLETE!!


Feels sooo good. I actually only realized today that it was the last day.. I thought tomorrow was lol.

Day 28- Friday

Friday I did another ball workout. I did another 200 situps and did 3 other types of exercises as well. 20 minutes. Decent time :)

Day 29-Saturday
Saturday was a busy day. Pete and I went to Kingston to see his family so we didn't get home until 10:30 and by the time we did I was sooo tired and achey. I opted to do the bare minimum (for the first time during this challenge) and did just 5 minutes of an activity. I did stretching! Yes, that is an option.

It felt so fantastic when I was done too :)

Day 30-Sunday
I woke up feeling not so great this mornin.. I opted out of zumba and instead went grocery shopping with my mom. Pushed the cart around (it was a difficult cart at that and required alot of manual turning!) I then came home and went with my mom and brady for a 20 minute walk :) Twas good!

I thought that was enough but then pete and I did a brisk walk to starbucks.. 20 mins or so.

I'm so happy I finished this challenge and my next post will be about my next challenge that I am starting today :)

Toodles!!

Steph

Day 19-24

Once again I had a busy, busy week/weekend and was unable to post. Thought it was worth it. I got to spend time with the people I love and also got to spend quality time with my family.

Day 19-Wednesday
Zumba, Zumba, Zumba!! My favourite activity to do. I put in my short 25 minute DVD and shook my booty until I was dripping in sweat.. DAMN IT FELT GOOD!!

Day 20-Thursday-

Thursday I didn't get up to TOO much. Mom and I went to visit Jenn, Brandin and baby Noah. He's so perfect. I love him soooooo much already. Didn't have too much time to spare so I just did a 20 minute leisurely walk with my mom over the lunch hour :) It was nice


Day 21- Friday
I look forward to Friday's SOO much. Especially fridays of a long weekend! Of course I dance down the steps at the end of the day and sing as I walk to my car :). I went home and mom and I went for a 55 minute power walk. It felt SOOOO good! I then went to Pete's house that evening and we chilled out and watched a few of our shows :).


Day 22- Saturday

Saturday was INSANELY hot. It was soo hot even just sitting in the sun made me drip in sweat. I decided to wait until the evening to do any exercise and even then Pete and I just did a leisurely stroll to the aquarium and then to Pita Pita to get dinner. I was still hot after that :| I also did about 20 minutes of cleaning that day. Felt good to be able to move indoors without feeling hot as heck.

Day 23- Sunday

I told Pete on Saturday I was going to be doing zumba this day. And he said .. and what if you DON'T do Zumba? My reply "There is no NOT doing zumba.. there is only doing!" And that is what I did. I zumba'd for exactly 45 minutes! And it felt great!! I also got to enjoy some family time as it was my Omi's birthday which is ALWAYS fun. I'm so lucky to have such a fabulous family.

Day 24- Monday

I was really bad yesterday. I did not eat very well at all. Everyone on weight watchers has bad days. If it wasn't for those bad days we wouldn't really be able to get back on track and realize what needs to be done.

Pete and I went to Booster Juice yesterday and then went for a 30-40 minute stroll in Waterloo Park which was nice. Always love spending time with him <3


Overall it was a good weekend. I could have been a bit better in the healthy eatting department but eh, oh well!

What can I do now but improve??

:)

Have a good week. I'll update after I do Zumba tonight!

Steph

Day 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 AND 17

Day 12- Wednesday

I felt like poop on Wednesday.. I was let down from my gain and didn't feel like doing anything. Mom and I went to Costco and then to Fairview mall..(had fun OF COURSE). I got home and was exhausted. I knew I could have counted what I had done in walking as my activity of the day but I didn't. I forced myself to work out.  I must have whined (internally) at least 20 times how I didn't want to work out and one day wouldn't kill me and how I should just be lazy and watch TV.

Did I?

NOPE. I got off my ass.. got on my runners and got my ass on that treadmill and powered through for 30 minutes. I then put my ass on that exercise ball and worked out for another 15. And how did I feel after that? FANTASTIC!!!!!! GREAT SUCCESS!!! Don't expect results from excuses!

I was sooo happy I pushed myself to do that because I know the next day I would have regretted not doing it.

Day 13- Thursday

Thursday was a pretty busy day for me. I knew I wouldn't have time after work to do my workout as I was going straight to Jenns and there was a chance I would have to stay the night. I decided to get my activity in at work. I carried a bunch of books over to the opposite side of the office and rearranged and cleaned this bookshelf. I also got rid of about 200 magazines. Wasn't much but it still took me 40 mins :).

Thursday night I hung out with my bestie and we had a fabulous time (as always!) She is the best friend a girl could ever have :)

Day 14- Friday-

Friday was another crazy busy day :). I rushed to Jenns house immediately after work to dog sit her dogs for a few hours as she was in the hospital having a BABY!! Yes Friday was the day Jenn gave birth to Noah. He is so precious and beautiful. I love him sooo much already! I was sooo lucky to be able to see him. I went in with her parents so was one of the very first (I am so blessed). Jenn is such a champ!!! So happy for her and Brandin. They are going to make the most amazing parents ever :)

Friday I got in my activity at work by setting up our lunch room for the potluck and carrying food back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. This was the one AND ONLY time I have been happy that no one offered to help.. gave me more time to build up activity points lol I'm so lame. It was a great time though and everybody enjoyed themselves. And they enjoyed my mango/avocado salsa which was a huge hit!

Day 15- Saturday

Saturday I was pretty exhausted so I had a slow day. I woke up.. had breakfast and relaxed a bit. I ended up doing my zumba video which made me feel great :) (as per usual). I was also very lazy for the rest of the day and mainly watched Mad Men haha. I'm a bum.

Day 16- Sunday

Sunday was great! I woke up.. gave mom her Mother's Day presents and made her a crepe breakfast. It was great! I then took my doggy for a 35 minute power walk down the road. I also ended up going for a 20 minute stroll with Pete later that day.

It was such a beautiful day and it was really nice to sit out in the sun with my lovely family. I enjoy their company sooo much :). They are so special to me.

Went to Pete's house after dinner and watched Game of Thrones which was INSANE and then Mad Men which was pretty awesome as well :). Kinda sucks I have no episodes to catch up on :P

Day 17- Monday
Monday was stressful and busy. I counted my activity as my grocery shopping and lugging a shit load of groceries up the stairs.. That is always a fun job!! :|

Volunteering was okay. Crazy at first but I ended up having a very fun time.

Anyways.. there is my update :)

I will post tonight again.

Toodles

xo

Stephie

Day 7-10

Hey all,

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Mine was kind of busy but relaxing at the same time :).

I was able to continue on with my challenge and have been active all week!

Friday-Day 7
On Friday I came home from work and did Zumba which felt sooooooooooo good. I love doing it soo much. It's one of those activities that doesn't really feel like an activity. I had the house to myself so was able to do a lot of cleaning and laundry also. I'm happy I had a free night to get some things done :).

Saturday-Day 8
On Saturday Mom and I had a girls day which was really fun. We woke up and went shopping.. then did more shopping.. and more shopping. Thankfully I didn't spend any money! I need to conserve.
We made a healthy lunch and then took brady for a 20 minute walk. That night we went to see The Lucky One which was REALLY good. Come on.. it had Zack Efron in it.. yum yum!! He is soo dreamy!

Sunday-Day 9
I woke up on Sunday.. had a light breakfast and then hit the treadmill right away for 30 mins. I hadn't been on the treadmill in sooo long but it's nice to see that my endurance is getting better. It took A LOT longer for me to feel tired :). When I was done that I worked out on my exercise ball for about 10 minutes which felt good too.. though I felt that the next day! OUCH

I was able to see my lover on Sunday night after my cousin's wedding shower. I had missed him sooo much. But we went out for dinner and then spent the evening cuddled up on the couch watching The Simpsons and Game of Thrones (LOVE that show!)

Monday-Day 10
Yesterday was a pretty stressful day. It was non stop. I worked 9-5 and then left right away to pick up a bed from my grandma that I delivered to the Shelter.. then I had 15 mins and went to grab a coffee from Tim Hortons. Then once I got back to ROOF it was go, go, go which is actually a good thing. Night went by soo fast and I had a really good time! By the time I got home at 11 I was sooo ready to pass right out. I had no desire to do a thing.

Last night something kind of weird happened. I was laying in my bed playing with my phone when my bedroom door knob started to jiggle/move. I was like WTF. I could hear the mirror wobbling (sits on the back of my door) and the things I had hanging on the handle were moving. I know 100% my parents were sleeping and no one was doing it.

FREAKED ME OUT.

These things always happen to me though lol. Within 5 minutes I was back to being fine.

I didn't have a set activity yesterday but I did grocery shop for an hour.. carried about 40-60 lbs of groceries up the stairs into the office.. I also helped move a twin bed.. and moved it down stairs into the shelter. I was also running around ROOF last night and helped make dinner.

Thats more than 5 minutes of activity I believe :P.

Anyways I must go.. it's Tuesday so you know what that means.. ZUMBAZUMBAZUMBAAAAAAA!!!

YEAAAH!

Adios!

Steph

Zumba, Zumba, Zumba!!

Does anyone else want to yell/sing out ZUMBA ZUMBA ZUMBA!!! (and possibly jump up and down) when they hear someone talking about Zumba? You'd have to actually do zumba to understand what I'm talking about but it is a fun feeling :). As you can see by the title.. I will be talking about Zumba (and other things of course). I did Zumba for the 2nd day in a row and I feel FANTASTIC!! It's so much fun and the time flies by when you are doing it! I really do recommend trying out a class if you get a chance. It is for people of all shapes, sizes and ages. Plus a 45 minute class you can gain 11 activity points!! HOLY CRAP right? The most fun form of exercise around. hahah. Anyways.. This week was a bit harder than usual. It always is when there is a holiday. I stayed on track and tracked EVERY SINGLE THING I ate. I may not have eaten the healthiest I ever have but I stayed within my points and only used some of the activity points I earned.

 Friday morning Pete and I drove to Kingston to spend time with his family.. we returned late Saturday evening. During that time I had Mcdonalds (I know! but I only ate half a meal), Fish and Chips (good friday) and an Easter dinner. And may I say I DON'T REGRET A THING! Why? Because I tracked and had fun! This is a lifestyle change not a lifestyle bootcamp. If that makes any sense.. haha.

I earned 27 activity points this week and only used 10 of those. I didn't touch any of my 49 points. I preplanned every single meal I ate(this weekend) and I didn't eat past 9pm. It was easy. I stayed on track. I planned. I succeeded.

Sunday was Easter dinner with my family and we had turkey (as usual). It was fantastic!! Once again I planned in advance so was able to enjoy myself.. ANDDD I had 3 points left at the end of the day :) It feels good to be in control.

Tomorrow is my weigh in day. I have to admit that I am not expecting a loss as 3.5 lbs in one week is a lot! I feel as though no matter how hard I tried I probably wouldn't drop but we will see. As long as I didn't gain! lol. Everyone keeps saying how they are noticing a difference and my friend Sam told me today that everytime she sees me I look so much smaller! Such a great thing to hear!!

 Anyways, I am going to go.. Ringer is back on and I am addicted!!! Gotta go.

 Steph

This ones a long one.. Day 24/25/26/27/28

I am a blog slacker :|

Though as I said before this was one of the busiest weeks of my work life!! Any spare time I had was used to relax or spend with the ones I love :)

Let me catch you up!

Wednesday was a LOT of fun. We had our Primal Leap Day Potluck and had a great turnout and the food was awesome!!! At around 2:15ish the power went out and no one really knew what to do so we just kind of chilled out. Ended up with a bunch of people hanging out in the open area playing music, singing and doing shots. It was a ton of fun :). I left at 4:30 and went to visit my grandparents for dinner. I didn't stay too long as there was a freezing rain warning.

Wednesday night I got my workout in. I did a 30 minute work out on the treadmill. (my go to lately).

Thursday was the busiest of all days. I had a very tight deadline and had to submit things to my boss. As usual my hangouts with Jenn are thursday nights so I had to go for a quick walk during work. I ended up getting 5 minutes in and ended up staying an extra hour and a half. Did I mention how crazy busy I was? lol. We also started a coding challenge at work that day so I needed to support that. By the time 6:30 rolled around I was so happy to be able to leave and go visit my best friend Jenn :). We had a fun evening as usual!

Friday was the biggest relief for me. I wanted to do a happy dance. It was still a very busy day but it ended very well :). We picked the winners of the coding challenge and those who won really deserved it! I came home expecting to do Zumba with my mom on PS3 but apparently you need a PS3 move thing to go with it. (which just doesn't seem worth the extra $60). I told her to return it and we'll get the DVD kit. Instead I opted for another 30 minute workout on the treadmill. I went to Petes that night and had a jolly old time as usual. He really is fabulous and makes me feel incredible! I'm such a lucky gal!

Saturday I had expected to go to St. Thomas with my grandparents to visit my great aunt and uncle but apparently we were expecting a storm so they cancelled. Instead I decided to get my workout in early. I went downstairs on got on the treadmill for 30 minutes while watching the Bachelor. Anyone else watch this show? Anyone else think he's the stupidest idiot ever? He makes REALLY BAD choices. But to each their own I guess.

Anyways I got that in pretty early and decided to read for a bit. I became addicted to this book on Friday.. called I've got your number- Sophie Kinsella. She is my favourite author and writes the most hilarious books ever. I highly recommend them to any female who likes chiclit. I started this book on Friday and JUST finished it. It was soo hard to put down.

On Saturday Pete came to pick me up around 2ish and we went to the grocery store to pick up supplies for dinner. We made Steak, twice baked potatoes and bruschetta. I must admit that it was friggin awesome and we both did an amazing job :).

I actually had a "first time" experience last night. And no it is NOT dirty (I'm looking at you stef hahahah). I watched Lord of the rings for the first time. Pretty good movie :)

Anyways I kinda want to speed this up as my body HURTS right now from the workout I just got in.

Today my mom picked me up from Pete's and we went out for breakfast at Chez Coras which was fabulous!! After that we went dress shopping which was fun. Especially considering I finally found a dress for my cousins wedding! Its hot and I feel really sexy in it!! WHOOT :D

I came home and grabbed my exercise ball and did some working out in my room. O M G. haha I love working out on that ball and you can REALLY feel it after. It felt sooo good!! I got 20 minutes in on that :)

Anyways I'm headed to Pete's so I must go!

Toodles!

xoxox

Steph

Day 18, 19 & 20!

Hey all!

Sorry I've been lagging on posts but I'm super busy!

I've been strong on the workouts and have NOT missed a day!! whooottt!!! It really is becoming a habit now. I'm feeling great and my body is already feeling more toned. Especially in my legs.

:D!

Feels good.

Anyways I'm going to quickly go through the workouts I've done in the last few days.. just to share.

Day 18- Thursday

Thursdays are usually pretty busy for me as I work and then go straight to Jenn's house. I was able to get in a quick 15 minute powerwalk around the block. I was surprised that it didn't take me longer... but was happy I got that in.

Had a great evening with my bestie.. as usual! She is THE GREATEST!!!!

Day 19- Friday

Friday I decided to go a bit harder as I had a shorter workout the day before. I did almost 30 mins on the treadmill and then busted out the exercise ball for another 2o mins. At the end of that I felt soo tired but pumped at the same time. My stomach hurt later that night as I did 140 situps as part of my workout. I also did this move my cousin told me about. I took the ball and lifted it with my legs (while layin flat) and reached up to get it and put it near the ground above my head. Then reversed it. It burrned lifting my legs up. haha but felt good! I also did this butt exercise but its hard to explain.. haha. Felt great!

Day 20- Saturday

Today I had a fun day! went out with my mom and grandparents and then came home to work out. I got the 30 mins on the treadmill and then did 10 mins on the ball. I did 120 sit ups and 40 pushups.

:)

Its getting more fun as I go along!

Tonight Pete and I went to see the movie Wanderlust. It was hilarious! I definitely recommend it!! If you've seen it. Paul Rudd in the mirror scene.. LMAO. Too good.

Anyways.. have a good night!

Steph

Day 9!

Holy Crap!! It's day 9!! Honestly it feels like day 3-4 haha.. I can't believe I am almost 1/3 of the way through!! Thats kinda crazy!

Anyways.. I've had a rough time lately. I dumped a friend.. which was a hard decision but the right one. I'm so happy I have great friends to keep my mind occupied. Last night I got some pretty bad news. Someone I had worked with in the past (they were my immediate supervisor) passed away in a horrible way which I don't even want to go into :(. It's very sad and upsetting and I've been emotional and confused all day. I feel like I'm still in shock.

I feel like because of a lot of the things going on in my life lately my eating habits have been kind of off because I was emotional eating. I came home last night and ate 3/4 of a box of mike and ikes and almost 1/2 a bad of coffee crisp minis. I was really upset. I counted my points though.

Today was hard and only one person really noticed something was wrong. I'm kind of happy no one else noticed as I didn't really want to explain why. It was my closest friend at work and I'm happy he was there to listen to me vent. I knew that when I got home I needed to get on that treadmill and push myself. I needed to clear my mind. I was on there for 41 minutes.. I could have gone longer but I knew I needed to come see Pete (which is where I'm at now).

Also meaning I should go spend some time with my man. Happy Valentines Day all! Today we're not really doing anything. I told Pete that I wanted to just chill out. In reality.. Pete makes me feel good and feel happy every single day of the year so I don't need some fake holiday to reassure me that he loves me :) I know it!

Anyways.. Toodles!

Steph

Day 5!

Hey all!

Today is day 5 of my workout challenge! I got my workout in this evening after work. Jumped on the treadmill for 35 minutes :). It felt great! Usually when I go that long I get extremely out of breath. This time it wasn't hard at all! Except for the last 5 minutes where I cranked the speed.

I feel so good to be back at it again. I feel like a big part of my life was missing and has been returned! Not going to let anything come in my way now!

Today I had a few people tell me that it looks like I had lost weight again. Its such a good feeling when I hear this. Motivates me to keep going and to push myself harder! I'm also noticing a difference in my clothes. I feel like the clothes I had bought because my old clothes were too tight... are too tight! A lot of my pants feel looser and some shirts sit differently and longer. It's a good feeling!!! I know I have some summer clothes I was keeping to fit into someday! Here's hoping for this summer!

Anyways.. I'm at Pete's right now. I think we're going to watch the movie Friends with Benefits tonight. Should be good! I love Mila Kunis!

Take care!

Steph

Motivation has been returned!

As you can see by my title I am feeling GREAT!

Honestly last week I was feeling so crappy because I was eatting late at night and I'd wake up and would feel like vomiting. It was not a fun feeling! On Wednesday I decided to have a one week challenge of not eating past 8pm unless it was fruit. It was kind of difficult at first but I resisted! I think I only ate past 8pm twice :). I even went out of my way to make sure I had fruit available to snack on. I planned it out and in the end I was okay :)!

Tomorrow is my weigh in day and I'm hoping for a loss! I feel like my pants aren't AS tight as they were last week which is a very nice feeling!!

Anyways..

This should be a good week! Tonight is my band practice which I am looking forward to! Always fun to jam! After that is my TV lineup.. Parenthood, Ringer and then Storage Wars. Why does everyone make fun of me when they hear this? :P

Thursday night is Jersday with my bestest friend Jenn. Can't wait to just chill out and relax! Then the next day her and I are taking the day off work to do a shopping trip! I can't wait to go to Forever21! My favourite thing about this weight loss is that I don't have to shop in plus sized only stores! I can wear clothes from ANYWHERE!!!! :D ANNNNDDDD I need to get new jeans because my size 14's are getting too loose!!! *HAPPY DANCE HAPPY DANCE*

I know some people think *size 14.. thats huge!!* To me it feels wonderful.. I started out my weight loss journey where a size 18 was too tight! Now I'm fitting into some size 12's.. I did not see that happening :)

LOVE IT!

Pete's birthday is coming up on the weekend which should be nice! I think we're heading up to Kingston and then on Sunday I'm going to take him out for Thai food :)!

Should be a good week!

I'll post tomorrow about my weigh in and let you guys know about my new 30 day challenge that is coming up!!

Take care!

Stephie

Happiness List

So I got this idea from a blog I follow.. to create a happiness list :)! As most of you know I am a very happy person so this list could be pretty long! Here goes...

The best thing that happened to me over the past year was finally getting together with Pete! Most of my friend know that I had liked him for a very, very long time so for me it was basically the best thing that could have ever happened! I've never been happier with anyone else in my ENTIRE life! Being with him feels so natural and right. He's like my best friend and my boyfriend all wrapped into one. He makes me soo happy!

My Parents :) - I've always had a good relationship with my parents (mainly in my adult years). I am especially close with my mom as we can talk about anything and everything :) It's great! She's one of my best friends.

Jenn- She is the one who makes me the happiest out of everything in this entire universe. She is the most incredible person I know and without her in my life I would be very unhappy. This September will be our 10 year friendiversary.. Yes .. we have a friendiversary. She understands me like no one else ever has and we can even have a full on conversation with just our eyes. We can sit on the couch for 3 hours straight and say 10 words and still have the greatest time ever. Without my best friend I would not be the person I am today. She is giving and she is smart and beautiful and is the most amazing person I've ever known. Thank you Jenn for being such an excellent friend and person :) The world is a better place because of you!

Ahhh, my Steelers. In General football makes me very happy. Every Sunday I sit on the couch like a lazy bum for hours and watch football. I love it. Watching my Steelers play is awesome.. I get so into it and scream at my TV with joy (and sometimes disappointment). Next year will be our year! We made it into the playoffs with 1/2 our team injured.. I am very impressed!

My beautiful dog Brady. whom I named after the best looking football player in the NFL. He makes me smile every day and when I'm sad and crying this guy snuggles up to me and it almost seems like he gets it. I love my boo!

Music in general makes me very happy. As you know I am part of a band and that is also a big part of my happiness. One thing I really love is Mashups. When you love two songs and they are mixed together it is rad!

Sunsets- They are just so gorgeous. This is my place in the winter :)

Yes I enjoy Jersday. To be honest I'm getting a bit sick of the show but every "Jersday" I get together with my bestie Jenn and we have dinner, watch our shows, do our nails, have girl chats and relax! My favourite day of the week!

When there is NOTHING else in the world that can make me smile.. THIS movie cheers me up.. It has worked so many times and I love it. I grew up watching this movie with my grandparents and now I know almost every word :)

"MAGGGGGGGNAAA!" I'll never forget the first time I had this drink lol. Saysha kept saying "MAGNA" in her awesome south african accent. Its hard for me to call it MagnERS now and when I get too drunk sometimes I call it Magna.. *SMH* This is a treat for me and it is so tasty!

Cofffffeeeeeee! No need to explain!!! I LOVE ME SOME COFFEEE!!

With that said.. There is my list for today! There are many things that make me happy but in reality.. I don't have all day to talk about them or enough room!

I must go.

Toodles!

Steph

Who's that girl?

Hey guys!

One of my coworkers Georgina (pictured below) had suggested I post pictures from this years holiday party compared to last years holiday party. I thought that would be a great idea! Though the pictures don't look that drastic it still makes me feel great.. and I've lost about 8 lbs since the party! Whoot!!! :)

Here they are!

Holiday Party 2010

Me & Georgina

Still don't know what I was thinking with that lipstick *SMH*

Feeling a bit hungry.. maybe I will snack on this microphone!!

Deciding on the next song

Holiday Party 2011

Me talking to the band

Me and one of my closest work friends, Gus

Me and my man.. he LOVES getting pictures taken :)

Talking to my Primates

Bog Ferret!!!

Me :)

I really like showing you these pictures because it encourages me to do better.. soon these "after" pictures will be included in the before pictures! Sometimes I look at pictures of what I used to look like and I don't even recognize myself. I think to myself "How could I ever let myself get that bad?? How did I let this happen?" Change is a beautiful thing :) I feel so much better about myself and love it!!

I can't wait to see where this journey takes me!

Have a happy hump day!

Stephie

Reading Challenge & Life

Hi all,

I'm on day 3 of my reading challenge and I've dug my nose into a new book :). I borrowed this book from my cousin and so far so good! I'm reading The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L.J smith.. it's very intriguing! I admit I watched a bit of the first and second season on TV but missed a lot and so far the book isn't really the same as the TV show but we shall see! I am about to go and continue reading (when I'm done writing of course) :)

So I wanted to update you on some things going on in my life. The weight loss is still going well! I gained 2 lbs over Christmas but lost 1.5 of it last week. I will work that off (and more) in no time :). Just gotta stick to it and believe in myself! Also, I was finally able to fit into a new size of pants!! Its amazing and I feel sooooooo good!!!!

Things otherwise are going really well. I've been spending a lot of time with Pete which is always fun! We've been watching the show The Wire which is sooo addicting. I LOVE IT!!! In about a month we've watched the first 4 season lol. Just one left! Can't wait!

I've also been spending a lot of time with my best friend Jenn. I don't know if I've mentioned but she's having a baby! I'm going to be an aunty!!! heheh She found out last week that she is going to be having a baby boy! I'm so happy for her and Brandin (her hubby). I went over last night and we had our Jersday which involves dinner (we went out for greek), watching Drop Dead Diva (highly recommend that to all you ladies!), and Jersey Shore!! Did anyone else want to bitch slap Snooki!? She acts so pathetic when she's drunk.. hasn't she learned her lesson yet?! UGH hahah

Anyways.. I'm gonna get to reading so I can go hang out with my baby <3

Adios!!

Stephie

Changes of 2011

I really can't believe it when I think of all the changes that occured for me in 2011. There are so many and I can honestly say that I am SO, SO proud of myself.

I have completely changed my life around and am EXACTLY where I want to be :)

Some of the things that changed in 2011

• I lost 40 lbs!!- Yes I finally hit my 40 lb mark and am sooo happy!! It's been quite the journey but I think losing 40 lbs in one year is remarkable :) I posted some pics below to show me last Christmas and then pictures from this Christmas.
  
  
• I rediscovered myself- This time last year I was lost. I was broken. I had just gotten out of a 4.5 year abusive relationship(in every single way.. mostly emotional) and I honestly thought I would never be happy again. I didn't think I'd be able to move on or be able to REALLY smile again. I got so used to putting up a front around people that they never thought I was hurting inside. I guess it was a way of protecting myself. In 2011 I started out the year keeping myself busy and making sure I was surrounded by people who loved me. I started losing weight and eventually found my confidence again. I realized that I am a good person and that I am loveable. I found my sense of humour.. didn't worry about what other people thought of me and started being myself again. I am a giving, kind hearted person and that person will NEVER, EVER go away.
  
  
• I got a promotion!- I started working at Primal in September 2009 part time. I instantly loved my job and knew that I wanted to stay there for awhile. I was only getting about 25 hours a week and needed more money to pay the bills so I was working another part time job. This didn't really bother me as I LOVE working :) In January I started full time and was able to quit my part time job! I couldn't be happier.. its like a have a work family :)
  
  
• Fell in love- This one is the most important one to me :) I had been into Pete for a very long time. Pretty much since we started hanging out during our lunch breaks (we met at Primal). I was instantly attracted to his sense of humour, his smile and his kind eyes :). We talked every single day at work over MSN. He'd send me songs and we had pretty much the same music taste.. I loved that! He quickly became one of my closest friends and I was terrified to tell him I liked him because A) we worked together.. could become awkward, B)Fear of rejection and C) I didn't want to lose the friendship if he didn't feel the same way. He quit in June of this year and we still talked every single day over FB chat :) I finally decided to tell him and it was the best thing I've ever done!! It took a few days for him to come around and admit it too but we hung out one night and watched True Blood and Breaking bad and have been inseparable ever since. I've never felt something like this and really hope this lasts forever!!! Jan 5th will be 5 months for us :). I finally found someone who I can be myself with in every single way.. and he makes me feel beautiful everyday.. even when I look like a bum and am wearing no makeup :) SOOO HAPPY <3<3<3
  
  
• Dumped shitty friends- I decided that if being a good friend was a priority for me.. I deserved the same! I had many people treat me like shit in 2010 and wasn't going to let that happen in 2011. When the red flags started showing.. I kicked them to the curb. No need for that!
  
  
• Became closer to my closest friends- One in particular. My best friend Jenn. She is my one and only and gets me better than anybody ever has. We can talk about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING and I think we could gross out most guys by our conversations. haha. She is the best person I've ever met and we've been best friends for 9 years now! She truly gets me and would do anything to fix any problem I have. I love her so much.
  I've also become a lot closer to some of my other friends including Amber who has been amazing. I've known her since I was in grade 10 and we're closer than we've ever been. She's one of my closest friends and I'd do anything for her! Another friend is Stef :) She is amazing and so beautiful inside and out. We have gone through a lot of the same struggles so it's nice having a buddy to go through it with. I know you'll be the first one to read this.. love you soooo much girl!!! Another friend I've become close to is Sam. We met when she was a co-op at Primal last year and she quickly became my go to coworker for everything.. she has been an amazing friend and always offered me the best advice and was always there to listen to me when I was down and needed to be lifted up. :) She is one of the most amazing people I have EVER met.
  
  
• Bought a brand new car! - Got my new car! My lovely madza3 that I love soooooo much!
  
  
• Stopped drinking pop- I love pop.. maybe a little bit too much. It was really hard to give up at first but I knew it was one thing I needed to kick to have a healthier lifestyle. In 2010 I drank 3-4 cans of pop a DAY and no water.. no joke. I was a Canada Dry addict!! mmm gingerale. This year I kicked the habit and now only drink water (and coffee.. a bit of an addict on that one though)
  
  
• Discovered my love of snowmobiling- One thing I quickly became addicted to in early 2011 was going snowmobiling with my dad. I usually hate winter but this year that has changed! It became one of my favourite past times and cannot wait for there to be a heavier snowfall so we can go out and hit the trails!
  
  
• I started volunteering at a homeless youth drop in centre- This one makes me feel great. In May I started Volunteering at a place called ROOF. This place has seriously changed my life. Seeing the progress in some of the youth and the bonds I have developed with soo many of them is amazing. This has made me question my path in life and I'm seriously considering going back to school to go into this field.
  
  
• Joined a band- Many of my friends and family know that I LOVE to sing.. I feel like I am quite good at it. After filling in for the singer of the Primal band "Bog Ferret" it became a permanant thing in 2011 :). We meet every tuesday night and jam out at the office :) Love it so much and my band mates are awesome!!!
  
  
• Changed my view on working out- I used to HATE .. HATE working out. It was pretty much a chore for me and I never did it. This year I discovered that I actually love to be active and it has really helped me in this weight loss. I haven't been able to work out for the last month as I have mono but in 2012 it is going to be a HUGE thing for me. Gonna incorporate activity into my daily routine.

Here are the pictures I talked about earlier in this post.

Christmas 2010

Pictures from Christmas 2011

I feel like I even look happier! hehe

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more posts in 2012!

xo

Stephie

Missed 2 weeks.. but I'm back!

Sorry for being a crappy blogger :(. I've been very stressed out these last two weeks.

My parents went on vacation for a week to Jamaica and left me in charge which meant I spent every night at home, cleaned up the house (including cleaning up after my slob of a brother). I was basically a housewife for a week! haha I did get in a bit of exercise as I walked brady twice a day every day. so that was good!

We had the Primal Holiday party which was a blast!! Bog Ferret rocked the house! I love our band!! WE ROCK!! We performed 15 songs.. it was a lot of fun. The only thing that was not fun about it was the hangover the next day :|. I needed to have some "bravery juice" to be able to get onto the stage and then within the last hour a group of 7-8 of us did like 10-15 shots. Yes I repeat.. 10-15 shots within AN HOUR!!!! it was kind of ridiculous but awesome at the same time! The room was definitely spinny that night! I'm so lucky I have a supportive boyfriend who overlooks my drunken stupidity. At one point in the night I came and sat beside him with a drink and he put his hand on my leg and said "whats that?". I said "my leg" hes like.. "what... whats that?" I said "my leg" he goes "..............what are you drinking?" I go "ooooooooooooohhhhhhh ahahah .......a white freezie" Yep.. Im wack! That was at about 1/2 way through our set. :| I also spilled A LOT of popcorn in his car.. sorry Pete! :)

My parents came home on Wednesday and I could not have been happier!! I missed them soo much! ( I also missed sleeping in).

Wednesday was also my weigh in day and I was down a lb!! Whoot Whoot I was very happy.. I'm the lowest weight I've been in over 2 years!! :)

(I also kind of cheated and got on the scale today and was down 1 more lb.. kinda happy about that but I'm also sick.. which I will get into)

Thursday night I was able to spend time with my best friend Jenn. We ate dinner, went for a 30 min walk and then watched our show "Drop Dead Diva" for the rest of the night. Thats when I started to feel like arse. I was starting to feel the pain!

Friday came and went.. it was a hectic work day (as the last week had been.. ugh!!). I was happy when 5pm rolled around as I went and picked up Pete and then we went with my parents to our family friends house for dinner and gingerbread making. We had a great time and Pete and I made an amazing gingerbread house! It was crappy we left a bit early because I was sick.. but I really wanted to go to bed.

Next day I felt like I had been hit in the neck with a brick. It hurts so badly to swallow.. Had the chills for 2 days straight.. raging headache.. pain in my neck/back, swollen glands lymph nodes. ughh

Now I am getting the sweats andd I have white spots on my throat and the pain has completely moved over to my left side. It really, really sucks. It's also extremely painful and NOTHING helps. I've tried 4 kinds of lozenges, 2 sprays that numb the throat, advil and aleve.. its just insanely painful. The only thing that kinda helps is putting a cold pack on it and camomile tea :(

Bah.. I hate being sick!

Hopefully I can get in to see my doctor tomorrow. I went for a drop in appointment at my doctors office on Sunday and one of the doctors there took 5 mins with me. She swabbed my throat.. left.. came back with results (no strep) and told me to drink lots of fluids and left..

THANKS!!!! VERY helpful!

*SMH!!!*

Anyways I'm going to try and get some sleep.

Steph

Day 28 & 29

Hi all!!

Soo Wednesday was a crazy busy day.. My parents left for Jamaica and I am left at home with Brady.. soo I had to rush home.. take him for a walk.. load him up into the car and take him to my grandparents for our usual dinner date :). It was good and I loooove what they made. "Romanian Pizza" Its basically cornmeal covered in cheese and baked.. mmmmmmmmmmm soooooooooooo friggin good. Usually there is bacon in it.. not this time though. meh!

I also weighed in Wednesday morning and I'm down .5 lbs! That makes 5 lbs total since the beginning of this work out challenge!! It doesnt seem like a lot but Im nearing 40 lbs total so it seems to be coming off much slower lately :)

When I came home from my grandparents I jumped on the exercise ball and did 120 situps in 5 minutes. It is the bare minimum but I still got in two 10-15 minute walks with brady.. so I don't feel TOO bad :)

On Thursday I had a really shitty day.. I was majorly down in the dumps :(. I've been feeling really lonely.. and I guess when you only hang out with a dog it gets to you.

After work my boss, and coworker Georgina went shopping for our Adopt-a-family :). I got home and walked Brady for 15 minutes.. It's really hard to walk him in the dark with no street lights whatsoever.. I use the flashlight on my phone that does out every 45 seconds :|. I came back in and made dinner (french onion soup mmmm) .. and then jumped on the treadmill for 15 minutes.. Afterwards I got on the exercise ball and did 120 sit ups. Felt great.

I then got super lonely and depressed and cried myself to sleep.. being alone isn't my thing. I also had nightmares last night... One where I murdered someone! One where a gang was after me.. and then another where I was kidnapped! It was freaky :( Not a fan.

Today is my big day and I wanted to make a seperate post .. I will do that one later :)

The man is on his way over.. soooooo I should clean up a bit before he comes!

Toodles!

Stephie

Day 22, 23 & 24

Hi all.. hope you are all having a great weekend :)!

I know.. I know.. I am a bit behind but better late than never right?

So Thursday night I went to see Breaking Dawn part 1 with the girls.. it was pretty good but kinda funny at some of the serious parts. lol. I came home and watched the Thursday night NFL game while I worked out on the treadmill for 20 mins. 6 NFL mins= 20 real time minutes.. I should do that more often!! Well maybe not.. I got so excited that when I cheered and pumped my fists into the air I punched the ceiling. I also jumped with excitement and almost flew off the back.. I was also very distracted and almost walked off the side of the machine.. whoops! lol It's funny to think about now though.

Friday I came home from work and immediately jumped on the treadmill.. it felt great and I really pushed myself. I was gasping for breath towards the end :) I love that feeling!!! I hung out with my hunny last night and we watched the latest episode of Modern Family (our show) and then he got me started on HBO's The Wire. So far so.. meh? lol Its ok so far .. I'm hoping it picks up.. I'm more into major (girly) dramas and comedies.. we'll see.

This morning Pete and I went out to Cora's and I got the healthiest thing I could find on the menu (my fave) the Harvest Crunch.. sooooooooo good. I also get the granola on the side so I could control that too.. It was great!! :)

He's so amazing <3... I've honestly never been happier in my ENTIRE LIFE. I'm so happy we're together.. he was always one of my closest friends and its an incredible feeling to be 100% myself with him. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have him. :)

He dropped me off around 1ish and I took my pup for a walk.. it was soooo beautiful today!! It got up to 13C!! and its 8pm and its still 11C (Now its 11:20 and its 12C whhhaaaatttt!?!?). I can't believe it.. its almost December! lol.. Christmas is in less than a month! That means I have a very, very busy month ahead of me.. gah

Anyways I'm off to play MW3!

Toodles!!

Steph